Jugdral: Outrealms and Outlierealms
by Cyber Emblem
Summary: 4th Anniversary fic for Crusaders Reborn. In a different continuity, from Crusaders Reborn. Several different continuities, in fact. Story changed from a one-shot to a series focusing on various twists on the actual continuity and the usual fanon continuities. Larcei/Seliph 1st, Azelle/Briggid 2nd, Corpul/Lene role reversal 3rd, etc.
1. A Fitting Irony

**_This fic is here to celebrate the 4th anniversary of Crusaders Reborn. It's my first Jugdral fic that is not in continuity with C.R. The opening is incredibly long and written like a scatterbrained journal entry. I openly admit that. I did this for fun. I love the concept of the multiverse, so I thought this was a decent excuse just to write whatever came to mind and establish my concept of one firmly. Believe it or not, I actually cut some stuff from the opening. We'll see, this could be the start of a new series, it depends on how its received and how I'm feeling about it afterwards. I'm putting the journal parts in italics. If you want to skip all that crap, skip the italics. I hope you guys get some enjoyment out of this. I did. As always, please leave a review and enjoy_**

**_P.S. part of my inspiration is an old piece of fanart. Type in Seliph and Larcei somewhere you can find fanart, and you should find the picture. I believe it's called "Trade a sister for a wife, trade a brother for a husband"._**

**_-Cyber Emblem_**

* * *

_I can go anywhere, you know. The omniverse is vast and endless. I can go someplace completely and utterly new fairly easily. And yet, I never seem to. I'm always drawn to the same few multiversal streams with little exception._

_I honestly don't know why I find the worlds containing a Fire Emblem so fascinating, I just do. So I'm constantly visiting them, and out of all the locations I currently know of, Jugdral is the one I visit most frequently._

_And one thing I noticed about this continent, and its major conflict, is that despite the fact that most of the couples on the heroes side can be made up of essentially any two individuals, the same individuals keep winding up together with remarkable consistency._

_I've checked multiple times. Technically, only the unions of Quan and Ethlyn and and of Deidre and her two husbands are considered set points in time, and yet the same few couples keep popping up despite the fact that there should be some variety. I have to go out of my way to find that variety actuality, which… honestly intrigues me._

_Why is this a thing? Honestly, I have better things to do than stick my nose into the romantic lives of Sigurd and Seliph's armies, and yet, for some reason, I keep checking for variety whenever I visit a new Jugdral._

_Here's an example. the lacerating Larcei, daughter of the awesome and annihilating Ayra. Technically, she can wind up with any of the boys, but she usually winds up with either one of the Dozel brothers or… her cousin Shanan. Which is incredibly creepy if you ask me. Then again, half the time, the Dozels are her cousins too so…_

_It's like this, like… 95% of the time. I had to go out of the way where she wound up with someone else, and the Dozel boy actually wound up with someone else in the army. I have seen her wind up with Seliph, like, three times. And no one else. He's the only exception I've witnessed so far. And I've visited well over twenty Jugdrals._

_As for Seliph himself, I usually see him wind up with Lana, though I have seen him fall for either Tine or Patty a couple of times. Or someone who usually doesn't exist. I don't think I've EVER seen him wind up with Fee, Nanna, or Lene or the counterparts. Ever._

_I guess that despite having OPTIONS, the multiverse loves consistency. Like constantly screwing me over. That's a complete option you know, multiverse… you don't need to keep doing that. You don't have to keep giving me crap. I've had more than enough at this point._

_So anyways, this log is designed to tell stories. So I guess I'll make great use of it and use it to tell of one of the times that Larcei and Seliph wound up being a thing. I suppose that's a good use of my time and abilities. Yea, I guess that this proves that you don't have to be a woman in order to be a gossipy hen…_

_Of course, this whole time I've been complaining, multiverse, omniverse, so some of you might be wondering just what the hell I'm talking about. Since you are here for a story and not a long winded explanation, I'll keep it a short as a guy who loves to monologue can possibly keep it._

_Imagine that the omniverse is a giant cork board Now, the cork board I had back at home wasn't all in one piece. Instead, it was divided into several large squares. Each square is a multiverse set. What do I mean by sets? All of the realms that contain Fire Emblems, all the ones that contain monsters that fit in your pocket, and all those involving a plumber who doesn't actually do his job each make up an individual set._

_All the holes in the cork? Those are actually multiverses in themselves. Jugdral is one hole in the cork, Magvel is another, etc. Each individual universe is inside those holes… somehow. I think it's whatever the hell that is holding the cork together. I don't know, I don't do science, I just take advantage of it._

_If you want an explanation of nexus realms where worlds or people who shouldn't meet do. Umm… all the cork is on a single wall, and they are all technically touching/are adjacent to one another. That's all the explanation you're getting right now._

_I have my own organization system for all of this crap, but that's not important right now. I'll explain at the end. Maybe._

_But yea, to boil it all down… this crap is complicated, and I had to go to a transition point to find the universe that this tale takes place in. Basically. ¾ of cork is the same events with "little" variations, making up normal Outrealms. That last quarter? Outliers where the normal rules of the timeline get thrown out the window. A transition point? The meeting place of the two._

_I usually visit these when I want to see something that normally doesn't happen. Like Eliwood marrying Fiora, Roy marrying anyone other than Lilina, or Xander, Azura and Corrin not throwing common sense out of the F *&ing window._

_As a result of this, Larcei/Seliph was probably one of the most standard hookups I saw in that world. Let's do a checklist, shall we? Lachesis found Holyn attractive this time around, and somehow wound up with him._

_Ayra and Beowulf were trying to help one another in their attempts to woo the former two… and wound up wooing each other in the process._

_The womanizing knight from Chalphy SOMEHOW seduced the angelic knight, the girl who had lost her cheer found kinship and comfort with the thief, the dancer gave the ugly knight some TLC._

_The priestess who started it all wound up with the priest who predicted the end of it all, and the heir of Jungby gave her ear, then eventually her heart and womb to the hopeless romantic from Velthomer._

_Actually, that last one is an interesting story in of itself, but you're not here for that. No I can talk about the odd couples later, for now, I'm here to tell you the tale of the twins of Isaac and the heirs of Grannvale._

* * *

Larcei was never very interested in personal romance. She wasn't opposed to it. The matters simply was… it just wasn't her thing, as like Lachesis before her, she set for herself some particularly high standards that she didn't _actually_ expect for anyone to pass.

However, despite her disinterest in romantic pursuits relating to herself, she _loved_ to play matchmaker with other people. For example, her best friend, Cridne.

The poor girl had almost been violated, and had thus entered a passionate misandry phase. Larcei managed to break through to her through talk and finagling Diarmund into her life. The young man was a true gentleman, essentially the epitome of his mother's standards for the male sex.

He was so incessantly kind, that Larcei wasn't sure that any other man could have broken through her shell. Now the two were a dedicated couple. It was almost a shame, he pretty much fit all of Larcei's standards as well.

If it weren't for the circumstances, she might've actually given him a chance herself, he was simply that great a guy.

Larcei also helped that family by nursing the romantic life of Cridne's twin, Dalvin. He'd been fond of an Isaacian cleric in training named Mana for quite some time. Thanks to Larcei's incessant prodding, he'd finally stepped up and gotten his girl.

She was rather proud of that one. But all of her scheming and all of her plans were secondary to her main goal, finding a match for her twin brother.

He'd dated a few of the Tirnanogue girls, but he'd always break it off after a few months at best. Larcei was pretty sure that the current record holder was Lana, lasting for three months.

This gave Larcei an impression, that her brother wasn't interested in the Isaacian stock, but rather in "exotic" women. Though, let's be frank here, Larcei's definition of "exotic" was "doesn't have black, brown, or blonde hair or look remotely Isaacian".

While this still gave her a broad range to work with in a world with a population of Technicolor hair, it did help too narrow her search. Especially since she actually had a specific hair type in mind. She was looking for a silver-haired maiden.

She had noticed in their youth that Ulster had always seemed awestruck by images of the late Empress Deirdre. And she also vividly remembered a couple of incidents where they met a woman with silver hair a Tirnanogue. While everyone else had reacted to her presence in a relatively normal fashion, Ulster would stare at her wide eyed and openmouthed, with no explanation. Every time.

Taking this into account sealed the deal for her. She knew a war with the empire was coming, and as soon as they started moving, she would seek out a silver-haired maiden, bait her, then throw her in Ulster's general direction.

Then eat popcorn in the aftermath. (I made that last one up. They didn't actually have corn in Jugdral. It sucks to be them).

* * *

As you probably know, she didn't need to search very hard. Lewyn delivered Julia right into her clutches. Of course, she had to do a balancing act, because at about the same time, Johan was recruited into their ranks and he was _very_ interested in courting Larcei. Thus she had to balance her matchmaking attempts and being matched herself.

This is where Seliph comes into play. Larcei had always considered him a good friend. He respected her boundaries and generally acted as a voice of reason, which she acknowledged that she kind of needed. Her matchmaking schemes could get a little insane at times, and he was consistently there to keep her grounded.

Once, she had blown him off… only for her scheme to spectacularly blow up in her face. She didn't blow him off anymore. So, while on their way to the Isaacian capital, she related her plan to him.

"Umm… I'm like, 95% certain that Lewyn sees her as a daughter and that that translates into 'I will freaking murder you if you break her heart in a matchmaking scheme. Or match her, period.' That's the vibe I'm getting anyways." was how he responded.

"…The way I see it, he wants us to bring her comfort and happiness. What, do you think that Ulster can't do that?" responded Larcei after a brief hesitation.

"I'm not saying that, but are you _sure_ that you've guessed correctly? About Ulster and silver hair, I mean."

"You saw how he reacted when Julia first showed up. You tell me if I'm right, Royal Blue." retorted Larcei.

Seliph considered this for about half a second before he said "OK. Yea, I think that you're right about Ulster's type. But how can you be certain that _she'll_ love _him_? She only seems interested in following me around."

"Oh, that's simple. Just keep Ulster and I near you at all times. Claim we're bodyguards, or something. That way, we'll be near when she is near if she's going to follow you literally everywhere."

"OK… I can see Ulster being satisfied with that, but are you sure that you'll be happy, being kept away from the thick of battle like that?"

Larcei snorted "Kept away? Royal Blue, you're like, the imperial enemy number one. They're going to be targeting your pretty head on a pretty consistent basis. Being stuck by you will probably **keep** me in the thick of it. Besides, constantly being with you will help me."

"…How's that?" asked Seliph, almost afraid to ask.

"You'd be keeping me away from mister Dreamy Dozel. There are going to be social events, war or not, and he'll try to cut in and dance with me, I can guarantee it. You can help me stop that by dancing with me instead. You'd appreciate the opportunity, wouldn't you?"

Now poor Seliph nearly had a heart attack. The truth of the matter was, he'd had something resembling a crush on Larcei for a while now, and he was a bit jealous of the attention that Johan was attempting to shower on her. This statement _immediately_ made him think "Oh gods! Does she know?!"

Larcei didn't actually know until this precise moment, when she witnessed Seliph's reaction to her statement. Seliph had an awful poker face, while Larcei had mastered hers. So while he panicked, she thought to herself, "Huh, so you actually have a thing for me, Royal Blue? Eh, could be worse. I'd rather screw you than that Dozel boy any day. This could make things interesting. Balancing you, pawning off Johan onto someone else, and taking care of my brother… this could very well turn out to be my best matchmaking game ever!

* * *

With this mindset ingrained into her thoughts, she moved forward with her plan. When Isaac was taken, the people held a celebration in their honor. Larcei made sure to keep herself attached to "Royal Blue", throughout the whole thing, in order to deny their respective prospective lovers a chance.

She was somewhat displeased by the fact that Ulster didn't jump at the chance to dance with Julia, and that for the first part of it, she was standing to the side looking morose and lonely.

So, Larcei decided to make a gamble, during a lull, she approached Julia, and said, "do you want to hear a secret?"

Julia jolted in surprise "Oh! Umm… if you want to tell me, I guess it's ok…" she mumbled.

Larcei grinned and whispered in her ear "You see my brother over there, the guy with black hair and armor like mine standing on his own? Here's something he never intended to be public knowledge. He _loves_ silver haired maidens."

"_**What?!**_" squeaked Julia, face rapidly growing red.

"Oh, don't worry, he's never consummated his love, but he's always been fascinated by girls with silver hair. He always adopts the same stupid gob-smacked expression whenever one shows up, and he always goes silent. He never goes into detail about it, but it's my duty as his twin sister to take note of these things." said Larcei, grinning like a shark.

"Why don't you go and make his day?"

"_What?!_" squealed Julia, like a pig about to be slaughtered.

"Go to him, ask for a dance. Don't worry, he'll be just as embarrassed about it as you. So you'll be perfect together."

"But…I…umm…he…" whined Julia.

"I have eyes, you know." whispered Larcei. "I've noticed how you've been looking at my Royal Blue. I'm keeping him as my dance partner for my own reasons. But if you do me this favor and give my brother his dream dance, I promise, I'll let you have one with my Royal Blue."

Now, Julia had sharp ears, and she had heard of Larcei's matchmaking habit already, so she had an inkling of what she was up to. She had actually hoped that she'd use that skill to help her get Selph's attention.

While she was disappointed about how things actually turned out, she noticed Larcei's word usage. How she referred to Seliph by a pet name, and how she kept referring to him as "my" when she referred to him.

Thus, she came to this conclusion. That Larcei wanted Seliph for herself, and that she had noticed Julia's own attraction. Instead of acting in a stereotypically jealous manner, Larcei was instead trying to get rid of her romantic rival in a nice way, by setting her up with someone else.

The facts that she was still willing to offer her a dance with Seliph, and that the guy she was trying to set her up with was he own twin, indicated that Larcei bore no malice towards her. After all, why would she want someone she hated as her sister in law?

Julia didn't want to strain the goodwill she had received, so she relented to Larcei's scheme.

Larcei grinned from ear to ear. Julia also had a terrible poker face, so it told Larcei that she had gotten the desired reaction. Larcei had chosen her words deliberately, and Julia was having exactly the reaction that she had intended, as far as she could tell.

She guided Julia by the hand to where her brother was. "Oh Ulster! Someone would like to dance with you. Why don't you treat this sweet young thing." she chirped in a singsong voice.

As Ulster gawked at them and Julia started to move forward, Larcei decided to go the funny route, and she manually shoved Julia into Ulster's arms and ran.

* * *

In the meantime, Johan had started out just as morose as Julia. He'd turned traitor, his father and brother were dead, and he couldn't even get a dance with the girl that he wanted.

Larcei had taken this into account, so she decided to attempt to throw him a bone and throw another girl in his direction. So, just before the dance, she had pulled Fee to the side and talked her into attempting to cheer Johan up.

So she catted him up and danced with him. It helped that she wasn't particularly fond of Arthur due to his… behavior. He was capable of being cheerful and friendly, but the way he displayed such emotions was somewhat… off-putting. She couldn't quite place her finger on why she felt that way about him.

As it turned out, she'd need to stay near Johan on a regular basis. The Isaacians, who made up most of their force, and Johan's defectors from Dozel did not get along very well at all. So, Fee thrust herself betwixt them as a sort of intermediary. (As Silessian nobility, her bias was considered less focused in this situation).

So, over time, Johan grew fond of her and her upbeat attitude, while she actually enjoyed his poetry. As a result, they actually wound up becoming a couple, and much sooner than Larcei would've anticipated, eliminating her, "I need to keep away from Johan" reasoning for sticking near Seliph. And she was frustrated by Ulster and Julia, as they were not visibly romantic (though they were working something out between them).

Then, along came Tine, and she wound up making a mess out of Larcei's mind. The young girl showed an obvious attraction to Seliph. Consciously, Larcei's first instinct was "oh, I should help her with that." but she quickly found that she didn't actually want to do that, for whatever reason.

This forced her to take pause and engage in some self-reflection. Then she realized, "Wait… am I getting… jealous here? Oh shit, I am. I guess my plan worked a little to well, and I'm falling for the Royal Blue after all!"

She sighed. So it seemed that now it was now time for her to take on a challenge she had never seriously considered. Matchmaking herself. But first, she had to take care of Tine.

After some consideration, she decided that perhaps the blunt approach would be for the best. It might be hurtful in the short term, but it could work out better for everyone in the long run.

So, she pulled Tine to the side and explained things to her. "Look, I like to play matchmaker, so I tend to notice when people are making longing glances. Like the ones that you've been giving Royal Blue."

"Who?" asked Tine.

"Seliph." said Larcei.

"Oh. So… are you… going to… help me?" asked Tine meekly.

Larcei hissed through her teeth. "Well, see, that's the thing, kid. My first instinct was, 'I'm totally going to help this kid.' But then, I quickly realized that I didn't actually want to help you. Which is weird for me, because I love doing this. So that's when I realized… yea, sorry kid, but it turns out that I want the Royal Blue for myself." she said, rubbing the back of her neck and delivering the most awkward grin in existence.

"…OH." said Tine, looking away. Larcei could hear her heart breaking with that one syllable. So she tried to intervene.

"OK, look, I wasn't planning on this. I grew up with him, and I always saw him as a good friend. Lately, I've been staying at his side more often as part of some other schemes I've got in the works. I guess I made them work to well and on myself unintentionally. Believe me, this wasn't part of my plan."

She shook her head "Look, I'm only telling you about this because I'm afraid of what I might do if I get jealous. I've always been a bit hot blooded, and I'll be the first to admit, I get _nasty_ when I'm pissed. And, well, gods know that you don't deserve to have me angry with you for no good reason. That's just unfair and heaping an extra layer of cruelty on top of what you've already been through."

Larcei sighed. "So, look. I can help you otherwise. I can help you find someone else. It's the least that I can do in this situation.

Tine just gave her a look. "Do… you _really_ think that you can find someone **else**?"

Larcei swallowed guiltily "I'll do my best, kid."

* * *

Tine was reluctant to trust Larcei or to go along with her, and so, for a while longer, her affections remained with Seliph. Eventually, Larcei managed to steer her in the direction of a certain other Noble Blue that she was familiar with.

His jokey demeanor actually managed to make her smile with regularity, something that she desperately needed in her life after the life she had lead. Though now, as a result of this Larcei had to contend with an angry Arthur, who was not pleased with Larcei's shenanigans.

Not only was he upset about his little sister's emotions being toyed with like this, he was upset with her because he'd been interested in Fee himself, and he knew what Larcei had done. This gave him the impression that Larcei was working against him.

So Larcei decided to attempt to hook him up with another Pegasus knight in order to get him off her back, but how to manage that? He was now on high alert and incredibly suspicious. He'd have zero trust in her involvement in any way if she attempted anything for his benefit.

She went to Seliph's room one night to complain about her difficulties and to see if he had any advice.

"See, this is what happens when you interfere with other people's romantic lives. Now, you're in too deep and you've screwed yourself over." said Seliph, sighing.

"Why did you have to interfere with Tine, anyways? You said that she was into me, right? I mean, I'm available, so I at the very least would have given her a chance. She's like an abused puppy that deserves a treat, if you ask me. Who knows it could have worked, I can think of a couple of reasons why we might have actually worked as a couple."

At that, Larcei froze and swallowed hard, then looked away as she said "Yea… well… it turns out that I don't exactly _want_ you to be considered available."

"What… what do you mean by that?" asked Seliph, heart skipping a beat.

Larcei turned around and settled herself on his lap. "I mean… when I thought about working my magic between the two of you, I realized… I had already been working my magic on myself, and I don't want a rival." Larcei looked at him and grinned "I see that you're catching my implication."

Seliph turned red and looked away.

"I know that you're interested but don't want to impose on me. I noticed a while ago." now she snuggled closer, if that was at all possible. "Now, I'm telling you… I'm interested. What do you have to say to that? Oh… wait, you don't have to say anything, I already know how you feel."

Seliph finally looked at her, face crimson. Finally, he stuttered "C-Can I…?"

"Yes." said Larcei, smiling.

"Bu-! You…You don't even know-"

"It doesn't matter what you were about to say, you can do it." she whispered in his ear. And with that, she had him caught.

He leaned forward, clearly trying to psych himself up for a kiss, so she took over and snogged him.

* * *

Ulster went into full on panic mode once Julia got kidnapped, because at that point, he was sincerely in love with her.

On her end, having her memories restored threw Julia's emotions into a tizzy. At that point, she'd hadn't been quite in love with him, but she was well on her way there. But now, knowing who and _what_ she was did something to her on an emotional level.

She simultaneously wanted to push him away and hold onto him forever. Knowing the truth about her family made her feel… cursed. That she was doomed never to have a happy family because of her blood connections and attempting to find love would only lead to tragedy.

But at the same time… it was precisely _because_ of what had happened to her that she wanted to throw caution to the wind, and take what she wanted because she had no idea what could happen to her. She wanted to throw everything to the side and wrap herself in a lover's arms. She… she couldn't bring up these conflicting emotions to her father when they spoke.

When she was finally freed, Ulster came running, calling her name. Then he slowed to a stop as she stared at him. "Julia… do you remember me? Do you still… care about me or… or do you want me to leave-"

He was interrupted by Julia doing the boldest thing that she had ever done. She leapt into his arms, all of her limbs attaining a vice like grip. Then she kissed him. Then she said "I've been… putting my mind together. I know who and what I am now, but… I still want you, if you'll have me."

Once the war ended and everything got settled, both couples were officially engaged. Since it was two families uniting, they decided to make it one wedding. It was a tremendous affair, and there were a good number of people who were scandalized by the fact that the emperor and his sister were marrying _Isaacian_ royals.

After all, didn't this entire mess start with those Isaacians? Of course, explanations were made and the blame was properly spread instead of concentrated.

Of course, not everyone was satisfied, but after this, it was generally decided that these unions were fitting. Since the horrors of the past two decades began with the two nations trying to kill one another, it was fitting that their heirs would fall in love and unite them and intermingle their bloodlines.

Julia brought a fancy bouquet, and Larcei brought a fancy bouquet and a sword. Because of course she did.

Ulster found the entire affair to be incredibly embarrassing and awkward, but both ladies thought that it was the most fun that they had had in years. Forever after they were glad that Larcei's game had gotten out of her control.

Because life and love is just a game, isn't it. They were lucky that it all turned out so well for them.

**END ENTRY FE-AVJY-TP: 00000605 J Armsmaster's log.**


	2. Sympathy and Transferrance

_Hey everybody! I know this comes as a surprise, but I had a rush of inspiration, and I was able to belt this thing out, this proposed idea I came up with when I wrote the fourth anniversary story. For viewership sake, I'm attaching it to that story. Perhaps I'll make this a Jugdral sub-series, "Outrealms and Outlierrealms" or a subseries in general. I hope you guys enjoy this. The basic premise is "What if Azel and Briggid were an item?" I know that they aren't a very good combo unit-wise in-game, but storywise, I figured it might be interesting. I guess that I was right. Here's to hoping that I can get inspiration for my next story just as quickly!_

_P.S. Yes, I'm aware that the writing style is completely different from the previous chapter. What of it?_

* * *

Briggid had been trained all her life to be observant. She was taught that being so would be a necessary skill for the life that she led. So, what was the latest thing that she had observed? That the young redhead... Azel, who had initially been exceedingly friendly to her, had suddenly begun to avoid her for some unexplained reason. She wanted to know why.

Of course, since he was clearly actively avoiding her, she couldn't pin him down. But then she figured out that she simply needed to ask his blue-haired friend... Lex... for help. With his help, she finally cornered him and was finally able to ask him about his sudden change in attitude.

He was extremely nervous and he fidgeted a lot before he finally mumbled out "I realized that I was treating you like a replacement."

"I...I'm sorry, WHAT?!" exclaimed Briggid giving him a hard look, which just made him even more uncomfortable.

"You... you see... I... I've always adored Ms. Adean, and I've always held onto a hope. A faint hope that someday that maybe she'd become Mrs... my wife. But then at the end of our stay in Agustria, Father Claude came along and I found out that there had been a long term, long distance courtship between them that I had not known about. And now they want to continue it now that they are nearby. To each other I mean. I didn't know how to take the news, and then you showed up around the same time, and I... I'm sorry. I wasn't being fair."

"Oh boy." Brigid cringed and put a hand on her forehead. "OK. Let me make sure that I got this straight. You've always had the hots for my identical twin, but you've always been to much of a nervous wreck to properly approach her. And then you received the devastating news that she actually has a longtime suitor that she's actually interested in. And then right on top of that, while you haven't had enough time to get over it, I popped up out of nowhere. So naturally, since your brain wasn't functioning properly at the time, your dick did your thinking for you and immediately went 'Hot Damn! Identical Twin! Score!' and ordered you to capitalize on the situation.

Azel cringed and repositioned himself out of embarrassment. "But then you had time to cope and get THAT thing back under control, and now you feel guilty for letting IT be in charge at all... so you figured that your best course of action for making it up to me... would be to leave me alone so that you wouldn't treat me as a replacement. Do I... Do I have the general gist of the situation down correctly?"

Azel cringed "That's not how I put it..."

"But it's basically what happened, am I right, or am I right?"

Azel just shifted uncomfortably, bowed his head, and mouthed "I'm sorry."

Briggid raised her hands. "You know what? I'm not even mad. At least you realized what you were doing to me and tried to fix it. Now, what you did was the absolute wrong freaking thing to do, let me just tell you that. But I appreciate what you were TRYING to do. I'm pretty sure that that girly looking guard of my sister and that prince with the weird head decoration have the same problem as you, but they won't admit it. So, hey, you just won favoritism points in my book for at least attempting a fix."

Azel still looked tense, but she could now see relief flooding into his eyes. "What do you want me to do instead?"

"How about you actually talk to me and try to get to know me? Like, actively try to learn HOW I'm a different person than my sister instead of just SAYING, wait, she's a different person.

She adopted a thoughtful pose "I mean, tell me off the top of your head, based on what you know of me so far, what differentiates me from my sister. And don't you dare say any of the blindingly obvious stuff like "I'm a pirate she's a nun." That'll just LOOSE you points in my book."

"Well... you... you're more worldly than Ms. Adean. Not... not that that's a bad thing!" added Azel hurriedly.

Briggid grinned "I'm more worldly, huh? I guess that means I'm a normal human being and not an angel that's taken on mortal flesh like my sister. So I guess that means everybody has a chance with me instead of just the holiest of holies like his grace the father whats-his-name-I-don't-care." Azel made an odd choking sound.

"Well, come on, get on with it, how else am I different from my sister?" asked Briggid.

Azel reddened "You.. you're prettier..."

"Isn't that blasphemy?" asked Briggid jokingly

"I said that you're prettier, not that you're more beautiful than her." he blurted out defensively.

"Is... is there a difference?"

"Pretty is all about how you look. Beauty... is being pretty... along with everything else." he stammered out. "Sorry! I shouldn't judge you like that! I don't know you! I don't really know if!"

Briggid simply broke out laughing. She thought his little defensive outburst was hilarious. But then she got a good look at the look on his face and caught his body language, and abruptly, she stopped laughing. He was just a bit TOO nervous for this to simply be the anxiety of a young man who'd never been in a relationship before. The misplaced guilt, this obvious concern with putting her feelings about anything and everything first, even to his own detriment... her adoptive father had taught her a lot about people, and how to use bad relationships to make firm allies. She used those lessons now in order to perform some inductive reasoning.

"...OK... now I'm sorry. Azel, this may seem out of the blue, but... how did your father treat women?" Judging by his reaction, she'd just hit a bullseye. "He...I... he was Duke Victor. Of Velthomer." he said weekly.

"Yea... uh... I've been out of politics since I was like, five. I know nothing about him. Could you fill me in?" responded Briggid.

"I... he... my mother..." Azel stumbled over his words... then he abruptly turned about and hurried away.

OK. _OBVIOUSLY_. Duke Victor had been some kind of notorious womanizing scumbag and was so loose with women that he'd traumatized at least one of his children. Still, now her curiosity was piqued and she wanted to know just what the deal was. So, since she obviously wasn't going to get the details from Azel, she decided to ask her sister instead.

* * *

OK, yea, no wonder he had reacted like that. Now that she knew the details, she could put together a picture of what was going on inside his head. A bastard born of rape, and the only bastard allowed to stay after the duke's downfall... because the new duke felt merciful due to their lack of agency in the situation. She could imagine that that did absolute wonders for his self esteem!

That explained his deal with her sister as well. From what Briggid had seen and heard, Adean was considered a paragon and was much sought after by young men all around Jugdral. Meanwhile, Azel was... accepted. Why WOULD he ever try to make a move? No wonder he always seemed so anxious and reserved. If she had his background, she would be too!

She felt a great deal of sympathy for the redhead, and resolved to attempt to help him turn his life around. The next time she saw him, she told him "I spoke to my sister earlier, I know."

Azel hung his head in shame. "Yea, I can't blame you. I guess I'm the one who crossed a boundary this time. Sorry about that." there was several moments of silence "But you know what? So what if your origins are crap? You're clearly not a crappy person, so don't let your piece of shit father prevent you from leading your own life. I got separated from my birth family and was raised by pirates. I'm not about to let that affect me. What, you think you'll only ever be a pity case and no one will ever actually care about you on a deeper level?"

"I mean, I've got Lex, and Tailtu as friends, but they've both got their own things going on and their own reasons to latch onto me. Lex's dad and brother are selfish jerks and Tailtu's dad and brother tend to just ignore her. So really we just use each other to escape. No one else at court really seemed interested in me."

Briggid sighed "Right. I doubt that was actually the case, but whatever... you know what? I just thought of something, come with me."

"What? Where?!" exclaimed Azel.

"I just remembered, the Silessians are holding some sort of festival with a dance tonight. You're coming as my plus one. I won't take no for an answer, cause I know you didn't plan to go with your friends."

"How... how do you-"

"I'll prove my point to you there, you're going to dance with me, then you're going to find that there is going to be at least girl there who'll be willing to dance with you without asking who the hell you are first. Now come on, I'll convince Adean to help you get ready." she said slyly.

"Oh...OK." said Azel weakly.

* * *

Her point was proven and this was the start. Adean got the gist of what was going on and became dedicated to getting the two of them together, as did Lex. After these two incidents, Azel and Briggid wound up spending a lot of time together and they got to know the individuals, not just the twin and the pity case. Eventually, the pity and the pining that they felt when they looked at one another was replaced with genuine affection.

This built up until one morning, Briggid awoke in bed to find him asleep beside her, arms wrapped around her waist and a happy smile on his face. As she put the pieces of last night back together in her brain, she remembered what had led to this. They had held a wedding ceremony for two of their comrades the previous night. She laid back in bed and thought to herself "Well... knowing Azel... we're going to have to plan for our own wedding in the near future due to the overreaction he's going to have once he wakes up."

She briefly considered leaving, then decided "No. That isn't going to work. This is my room. Oh well, there goes the 'help him but don't necessarily become his lover' plan. Eh, no big loss. I've made worse choices in my life."

They were officially married just before the Silessian government collapsed, with Adean serving as the maid of honor, and Lex as the best man. They discovered they were to be parents just AFTER Briggid had finally stepped foot in her husband's home turf. To prevent any arguments about her safety, they kept quiet about it for the rest of the campaign (Azel figured that she could take care of herself, being who she was). As it ended, as they were about to be lead into that fatal trap, they separated from the main group early.

Azel wanted to see if he could quickly talk to Arvis before he got too busy with the aftermath of Sigurd's victory. He wanted to formally introduce his brother to his family. Thus, they caught wind of the massacre. But because of the timing, they weren't able to prevent it, give any sort of warning to their comrades, or get properly involved in it at all. All they could do was flee.

Their routes into Isaac and Silesse were blocked, and so they fled into the Thracian Peninsula. And in a home near the River Thracia, Briggid gave birth. Twice, for another child was conceived shortly after the delivery of the firstborn.

And so they raised their children in an isolated village by the River Thracia, until fate separated them, eventually leading to both parents being rendered stone statues. There they stood, frozen in a moment in time while their children fought a war in their stead. No one thought that they were the sturdiest or finest of warriors, but all were glad to have them on their side nonetheless.

At the very least, at the end of the war, it was discovered that there was a case of a pair of orphans that were not orphans at all, and a family was reunited.


	3. The Shield's Daughter

_I came up with this concept on the fly, I'm not quite sure what triggered it, but here is a story where Lene and Corpul swap story roles!_

* * *

Picture this, a pair of siblings, a brother and a sister, are abandoned separately, are left to grow up at an orphanage in less than stellar conditions. For a few years, they are growing up together without realizing it, but then, an influential foreigner visits the orphanage, and winds up deciding to adopt one of the children. What are the odds that he would choose one of them out of all the other children? And what are the odds, in the realm of infinite possibility that is the multiverse, that it would always be the brother that is chosen? Impossible odds, wouldn't you say?

And yet, that is the standard result. As far as casual observations of this world go. But let us go beyond the casual, shall we? Let's take a look at a scenario where the sister was adopted and the brother left behind. Let us look at a reality where General Hannibal adopted Lene and left Corpul behind.

* * *

General Hannibal was on a diplomatic visit to the city of Darna, and Governor Bramsel was giving him a tour of the city. On their tour, Hannibal happened to notice a somewhat dilapidated building in the middle of the city.

He inquired about it, and Bramsel responded with "Oh, that's just the local orphanage. Not that many people are interested in it nowadays, so it's degraded into something of an eyesore. Of course, I can't get rid of it. An advisor or two have recommended that I do so, and I seriously considered it... but then I realized that shutting it down would cause me more problems than allowing it to remain open."

"Oh?" asked Hannibal "What do you mean by that?"

"Come General, I'm smarter than most people give me credit for. Yes, shutting down the orphanage and demolishing the building WOULD get rid of an eyesore... However, if we did that, we wouldn't actually be getting rid of the problem, we'd just be dividing into an untold number of smaller eyesores that would be harder to manage. Because, General, I recognize that it is not simply an old building, it is an old building hosting all the unwanted children of Darna. What would happen if all those children were forced to live on the streets instead? I tell you, the streets of Darna would be looked down upon by the common people and worse, the crime rate would spike. After all, for their own survival, these children would HAVE to partake in illegal activities."

He shook his head "I'd receive countless complaints concerning street rats, forcing me to fund a bigger guard, which would force me, in turn, to raise taxes, which in turn would cause me to lose some goodwill and make it harder in general to collect said taxes from a dissatisfied populace, which would require more extreme methods to GET the money which in turn... do you see where I am going with this General? I hate to look at that building, but the way I see it, having it condemned would simply create a scenario where EVERYBODY loses in the end."

Hannibal stroked his beard "May I see it up close?"

Bramsel did a double take "You want to- why? After what I just told you..."

"In Thracia, we have a certain... appreciation for foundlings that the rest of the continent seems to lack." explained the General

"Appreciation for... OH! Yes, I think I've heard about that! Doesn't Thracia have an unusually high adoption rate compared to everywhere else, despite the harsher environment?"

"It's _because_ of the harsher environment that the adoption rate is so high. Due to the conditions in which we have to make a living, it's generally expected for everyone in Thracia to serve the military in some capacity over the course of their lives. We are always in need of more soldiers, and tell me, who typically winds up as a conscript in every nation?" Hannibal shook his head.

"If our future soldiers grew up as foundlings, abandoned by the system, then... why would they want to remain loyal to Thracia, the country that abandoned them? And Thracia needs loyalty. It is essential to our way of life. Thus, that is how our tradition of adoption got its start, through a sense of pragmatism." he explained.

Bramsel shrugged his shoulders. "Huh. It sounds like you found a great practical solution to the orphan problem. I am unable to fund or enforce a system like that here, but I admit, I absolutely see its merit."

"I must admit, as far as I've seen, it is rare to see a Grannvalian nobleman with such an attitude as yourself." remarked Hannibal.

"Most of us were born with a silver spoon in our mouths. I'm a bit different. While I was a landlord before becoming governor, I was a merchant even before that. You have to look at the world differently in that line of work." explained Bramsel.

As they drew near to the building, they found a little green-haired girl out front, practicing her dancing. Having a trained military eye, Hannibal could tell that her movements were consistent with someone who not only practiced her motions a lot, but who was self-taught. In the military, each scenario had a tendency to leave a distinctive mark on the way a person moved. Her style reeked of both distinctions.

"Young lady." he called out to her. "I can tell that you taught yourself how to do that, and that you practice a lot. Tell me, why is that the case?"

The girl stared at him for a few moments, then she said "I don't really remember mama, but I remember her outfit. I think she was a dancer. So, I'm gunna be a dancer so that I can find mama." then she went right back to her dance practice.

Bramsel snorted. "Poor fool. Her mother was probably a working woman who couldn't afford her. If she continues on like this, she'll wind up one herself. I happen to have an eye for beauty, General, and I can tell already, when that girl becomes a woman, she'll be QUITE popular with the men." hints of drool appearing at the corners of his mouth as he imagined such a future.

Hannibal gave Bramsel a disgusted look, then looked back at the girl. Unfortunately, he realized that, as crude as he was about it, Bramsel DID have a point. Her green hair and eyes were a rarity in this part of the world, and considering the body type generally required in that line of work... It made her stand out, and if she continued down this path and stayed in this region, the local population of young men would likely come to view her as a sort of "exotic dancer".

Hannibal instantly felt a rush of pity and concern for the young girl, which only increased as he toured the place. She'd be eaten alive by the local "wolves" if she were simply left here.

So, what he did immediately was leave Bramsel with a donation that was required to go towards the orphanage (which came with a threat over what would happen if it was used for anything else). He left temporarily, got his house in order, and then came back, and asked to see the little girl that he had met. Lene. As he found out, her name was Lene.

Hannibal and Lene had a long conversation, and thankfully, Hannibal managed to convince her that staying in Darna wasn't the best idea, and that she'd have better chances of reuniting with her mother if she had his help. And so, the next day, little Lene moved to Thracia as the Shield of Thracia's daughter (the adoption procedures in Darna weren't particularly rigorous. If an adult showed interest, the orphanage practically threw the kid in their hands and wished them good luck).

Over the years, as predicted, Lene grew into quite the beauty. She got used to wearing proper clothing, and even formal wear (though she didn't particularly like it), but she never lost her dancing habit. In fact, she simply learned new kinds of dances and became well known for her skill in the ballroom. And thus, she became an idol to a number of young officers in and outside of Thracia.

* * *

Now, you may be wondering "so in this scenario, whatever happened to the little brother she never knew?"

Corpul grew up in that orphanage, and grew to be rather religious. His attitude caught the attention of a local priest (the benevolent kind), and he took Corpul in as a sort of apprentice priest in training.

So, I imagine now that the next question in your mind would likely be "in this case, how would Lene and Corpul's swapped roles influence the events of the original timeline?

In the case of Corpul, he had an interest in wayward souls. And so, Javarro's mercenary band caught his interest while they were stationed in Darna. He would constantly visit Bramsel's fortress home in order to speak with them, and anyone else who would listen to him. Bramsel hated him, but didn't really have a legitimate reason to bar him from the fortress, Javarro himself found him naive and annoying, but most of the mercenaries saw him as a cute but sharp kid who they were willing to humor.

There was, however, one person in the whole group who had an outright positive response to the kid. Guess who?

Ares realized rather quickly that Corpul was abnormally wise for his age, and he grew to enjoy talking to him. He grew, over time, to see Corpul as something of a kid brother. They only ever had one major argument... which somewhat paralleled the original events.

When Ares explained to him that he was going to fight Seliph's army, Corpul did something unusual and a bit out of character. He got mad. He proceeded to decry the morality of his decision, and proceeded to counter every argument that Ares could come up with in favor of fighting them. It ended with Corpul declaring that he would have to pray for the salvation of Ares' soul, now that he had damned himself to the wrong side of the gods' will. He intended to come across as overly concerned, and hoped how passionate he was would show Ares how passionate he was about his safety... but instead he came across as holier-than-thou, as typical of youth in the clergy.

Ares stormed out, with the words "religious zealot" being thrown in Corpul's direction, and not just by Ares. Bramsel saw this as an opportunity, and had Corpul and his mentor thrown in the dungeon for "attempting to interfere with the defense of Darna."

Of course, their argument had still unnerved Ares, and he was unintentionally brought into Corpul's line of thinking due to a stray comment from Javarro, which revealed that he knew Corpul's likely fate for that, and that he didn't care about the fact that Corpul wasn't even a teenager yet.

"Good riddance, one less religious nutjob in the world." were his exact words. In this case, THIS is what caused Ares to turncoat, though he was less desperate and less obvious about it, as the danger wasn't as extreme as it was in Lene's case.

As for Lene herself? Only a little was changed on the Thracian side of the war. Sort of. She was also chosen as leverage to use to force Hannibal to fight the Liberation Army, but Hannibal was a bit more desperate in this case, for he was terrified that Distler would attempt to take advantage of the fact that Lene was his prisoner.

A justified concern, as Distler DID, in fact, attempt to take advantage of the situation. But he was utterly unable to really make the same kind of stronghold over Lene as he would Corpul. Because, due to concerns for her safety, Hannibal had not only trained her how to use her sword, but also how to use a shield and spear, and how to fight with them. She she had the skill to back up her strong will in this scenario.

She was quick to spell out to Distler that she was simply cooperating with him so that she and her father would have less trouble with the Thracian government, but that if he attempted anything with her, the news WOULD reach her father somehow, and his reaction would be the same as if he had murdered her, and she would personally make his life a living Hell.

Distler wisely chose to mostly leave her alone after that.

When all was said and done, there was only one more major difference in this scenario. Hannibal had kept his word in helping to search for Lene's mother, and thus Sylvia was discovered during the war, and thus, the siblings were quick to learn each other's identities.


	4. Tainted Light

_Ohh boy. Against my better judgment, I'm posting this. I came up with the initial premise years ago when I introduced the concept of the character Rand in "Crusaders Reborn" but I never did anything with it. (It's my "What if Seliph was raised as an imperial prince" concept.) Well, I'm finally doing something with it... but unfortunately, I never really thought it through beyond some basic ideas, so you guys are getting a... I'm going to call it a prototype story that I kept getting writers block over. That, and I kept having concerns that I was going **WAY** to far with the story content... but then I decided to browse AO3 without a filter one to many times and read the descriptions of some of the stuff that got posted there even recently and... Just the story descriptions of some of the stuff labelled as explicit or unrated made me pause and go "wait, someone actually wrote something like this on the NORMAL WEB? Who and Why would someone read and write this? and I was like "You know what? F- it. If someone can get away with posting grotesque shit like THAT on the internet, I can post something like this where I'm actually attempting to do something intellectual, even if it winds up a bit too dark."_

_ So yea, here's perhaps the ballsiest thing I've ever written. Whenever I write something dark, I usually censor myself in some manner and don't go all in. I did do that this time, but barely. I held back a lot less than usual, so... you've been warned. Let me know what you think. Did I actually go to far this time, or is this a genuinely heart-rending story, cause my brain tells me this is good writing, and I have no one but you guys to tell me otherwise, so please leave a review if you can._

_Also, if you've been wondering where I've been... I got a full time job finally around a month or two ago, and it kind of sapped my desire to write in my spare time and well, sapped my spare time when I do feel like writing. I've got the writing bug again now, but my time is limited and I kinda want to write Transformers stuff instead of Fire Emblem stuff right now, so..._

* * *

Typically, Lord Seliph was born a few months before his mother's abduction at the hands of Manfroy, everyone knows that. But I have a small query for you. What would have happened if Deirdre had been kidnapped shortly after he was conceived?

Oh, Manfroy sensed it when he took it, but he decided to take a chance and use it to try and warp the facts in his favor. He had taken her earlier in this timeline because he had intercepted the letters talking about her that went to the royal court. Thus, the fact that Sigurd had a lady love wasn't well known, and the details about their relationship would have raised a few eyebrows.

So, when he left her for Arvis to find, he left a broken Rewarp staff in her hand and tore her clothes in all the right places and allowed for their imaginations to fill in all of the gaps. When it was discovered she was newly pregnant... everyone came to the intended conclusion. Along with the bloodline reveal, everyone was afraid that the newfound princess had had her "purity stolen by barbarians" and much ado was made about what to do about her... _problem_.

The princess herself insisted fervently that she would keep it, and perhaps some who would've persisted otherwise relented out of curiosity due to the fact she showed a willingness to go to term. There were a number of people who were morbidly curious over what the princess's child would look like, and their curiosity overrode their concerns. That and their concerns that the royal bloodline ought to be carried on no matter what and unnecessary risks ought not to be taken that could potentially end the bloodline forever.

It helped that Lord Arvis seemed fond of her and seemed willing to marry her and adopt the child, so that handily took care of the problem. Manfroy stood by and watched and planned exactly how he could work this to his advantage.

When the child was born with a strong resemblance to Sir Sigurd and bearing the brand of Chalphy... well, that could either make or break his plan. There were plenty who were suspicious of the entire setup, who knew Sigurd well enough to have a hard time swallowing that he'd ever commit treason. The idea that he'd ever do something so monstrous to a woman was even harder to swallow considering his general reputation.

Oh, those who loathed Sigurd played it up for what it was worth, namely Lombard and Andorey, but plenty of others questioned the whole thing, even a number of Sigurd's enemies, like Duke Reptor, questioned the whole rape angle. Arvis especially smelt a rat. Sigurd hadn't taken a lover the last time he had seen him, and he didn't expect him to take one in such a short time frame, or at least get to **that** stage with one. Since Manfroy had been intercepting the mail, he didn't know anything about Deirdre and Sigurd's marriage.

Arvis's operating theory? The Tyrfing had had a major role in taking down Loptyr, and Manfroy was clearly bitter about how the sect had been treated in the aftermath. So, this was probably a part of some big scheme to discredit as many of the holy bloodlines as possible. Likely, Sigurd had been put under some kind of spell that either forced him into a tryst with what he thought was his dream girl, or, more likely, put under a spell similarly to Berserk, which forced him to commit such an act.

As for Deirdre? Either theory could work from her end, the same spell could've been used on her, then Manfroy screwed with her head further, or if it WAS an assault, well, it was already theorized that the trauma had repressed her memory, and either theory worked with what he knew about Sigurd.

Then why would Manfroy leave Deirdre for him to find? He probably wanted the taint of his Loptyr blood in the royal family. Wouldn't that be the ultimate blow for the prejudiced people of Jugdral, their own precious royals being related to those demons?

But... would playing Manfroy's game like that necessarily be a bad thing? If that little factoid ever did come out, wouldn't the people have to hesitate before they lashed out for once? They'd be put in a situation where NOT thinking the situation through would be treason... yes... perhaps he could work with this...

* * *

Sigurd, naturally, was livid that his reputation had been dragged through the mud in such a fashion, and was deeply aggrieved that his only child was being kept completely out of his reach. Queen Rayne sympathized, but pointed out that while this was a bad thing for him, it was potentially a good thing for his son. They'd likely try to raise him as a puppet ruler for Chalphy. More than likely, they'd try to keep him alive, especially since it was proven he was technically a part of the royal family. So while it was far from an ideal situation, at least he was practically guaranteed his son's safety.

When the time for the Belhalla Massacre came, events had... shifted. Arvis was making a show of being suspicious of Sigurd's lack of a response to any of his inquiries, so Manfroy arranged for Arvis to find out about Tailtu running off after Claud, and conveniently let word of her grief forwarding her father's ambitions and her subsequent romance with Azelle reach Arvis. He took this information and used it to help paint Duke Reptor as a mastermind playing both sides for his own gain. Supposedly, he manipulated the loyal lords into believing _they_ were going to be betrayed by the royal family, and so they acted first.

Manfroy didn't stop there, and he continued to plant evidence against Duke Reptor. He covered his bases with Sigurd and Deirdre too. The story he put out was that Sigurd had been courting a young woman he had met in Verdane, not realizing who she truly was. Reptor had discovered this and, seeing an opportunity to discredit him, drugged them both, leading to the princess's... _situation._

Arvis, of course, knew better, but he recognized a believable and a potentially beneficial lie when he saw one. He couldn't "officially act" on "unfounded rumors", so he took a neutral stance while the two armies ripped each other apart, the official story would be that divine providence would select the winner. (Arvis was letting some of his envy win out here. Sigurd presented a threat and he didn't want him taking Deirdre back, so while he couldn't officially kill him with that story without backlash... he could let him die).

_Unfortunately_, both of the army leaders fell in battle, so the true story died with them both. Supposedly it was the gods way of saying they had both failed their duties and were unworthy of life. (In reality. Sigurd had killed Reptor but was worn out by the fight. Before he could recover or even leave the battlefield, Manfroy had snuck up on him and assassinated him.)

It wasn't a perfect win, but Arvis had what he wanted. He looked the best out of all the houses for the stances he took (it was made public that he'd investigated the details of what went down and that he had discovered 'the truth', he'd stayed neutral in the meantime, and offered to help the fallen houses rebuild in the aftermath) and could quite easily push the other dukes around.

Sigurd's death was chalked up to a mutual kill, he was killed just after defeating Reptor, and Manfroy made sure to kill him in a manner that Mjolnir plausibly could have done. Arvis would raise his son as his own (though he wouldn't claim to be his blood father). He wouldn't be the heir of course, but Arvis would honor his _fallen comrade_ by raising his son as the honored first prince of the empire. And so, Prince Serlis (as he was called in this reality), grew up in Belhalla.

* * *

While Serlis himself was painfully aware of the reason why he was out of the running for the position of heir to the empire while growing up, his younger siblings grew up mostly oblivious to that painful reality, and pretty much accepted that Julius was to be the heir because "he looks like papa". To be fair, they were children, and Serlis didn't begrudge them for this. In fact, he didn't begrudge them at all for their happy childhoods. In fact, he actually went out of his way in his attempts to keep them oblivious to his true situation.

He did everything he could to play the part of the noble prince and worthy heir, and he spent a lot of time in Chalphy preparing to take the Dukeship. He was often late to, or even had to miss a few important days back home due to his duties.

Thus, he had just arrived in town and had not quite made it home when Julius was handed the Book of Loptyr. He wasn't there for the crime, but he was there for the discovery, investigation, and fallout.

Despite his distress, Serlis kept his wits about him enough to find evidence that his mother had used a warp spell before her gruesome end, which was likely the reason that Julia's body was nowhere to be found. For some reason, when he discovered this, he felt an overwhelming feeling of dread, and he decided to keep this information to himself and to hide the evidence. And so, he kept the discovery of his sister's likely survival to himself, a decision he was later glad he had made.

He played along with the shifting tone in imperial politics as best as he could, but did his best to maintain his morality. When he reached adulthood, he was allowed to choose which outlying territory he would like to govern. It didn't take him long to decide. The rumors had reached him that Verdane had been his mother's country, but had since been reduced to a lawless state. So, he chose to return order to his mother's homeland. Julius actually seemed rather pleased with his proclamation when he made his intentions known.

Soon, he was able to do just that. It helped that the general population actually liked him and was seen as one of the fairest governors in the modern empire, especially since he clearly genuinely cared about the territory he was ruling. Within two years, the crime rate had been reduced by nearly 90%. While... _certain elements_ within the empire loathed his style of rule, nobody could claim that he didn't control his territory, and so he earned a grudging respect from his peers.

Still, his reputation made rebel factions hopeful that he would be sympathetic to their cause. Naturally, however, they all realized they would have to play their cards right if they were to win his support. Nobody wanted him as an enemy, so the rebel factions schemed how they would, _at the very least_ get him to remain neutral in the case of a full scale rebellion, a tricky proposition, to be sure.

The Isaac branch found their opportunity first when Serlis was 22. Officially, Danann had found the last resistance cell a couple of years previously and crushed it. Unofficially, his two younger sons had subverted his will and ensured that there were a few survivors.

Due to the... circumstances... of the fall of Tirnanog, Larcei had wound up playing the role of Johan's mistress for the last couple of years. Together, they schemed to get the prince to Isaach and win his sympathy. Eventually, they managed to get an official invite sent for Prince Serlis to visit Isaac territory. He came out of curiosity, if nothing else.

He found Danann rather... distasteful. Especially with the manner in which he tried to sell Serlis one of his captives. He would've left then and there if Johan and Larcei hadn't intervened and managed to get Danann kicked out of the room and conversation altogether, much to Danann's chagrin. Serlis distinctly heard him mutter "you're letting your little slut influence you to much and you're forgetting your place. You need to find a proper woman who knows to keep her damn mouth shut." as he left.

Serlis was quite interested to find that Larcei was an Isaacian princess. "I thought the royal family had been entirely wiped out?" he asked.

"Everyone else was, sir. Three years ago, I had my twin brother and my cousin, but Danann made sure that they died when he invaded our last stronghold. But because I was a maiden girl in her late teens, they had a... special interest in keeping me alive..." she said in a monotone voice. "They made sure I couldn't cause them any physical harm first, of course." she said, lifting up a ceremonial sword. Serlis noticed that her arm shook as she did so and clearly not from the anger.

"Oh...I'm... sorry... did they... did they actually..." Serlis stopped short because he didn't know how to ask the question.

"I got saved from the worst of it." said Larcei.

"So... you... _weren't_..."

"Not... directly." interjected Johan. I had already encountered her before and she'd already caught my fancy, and that was the last thing I wanted to see happening to her, so I couldn't allow them to go through with everything they had planned. What wound up happening is they made a show of dragging her back here from Tirnanog, and then when they brought her in to... before they could do anything irreversible, I stepped up and boldly proclaimed that I wanted her for myself. My father had noticed that I'd had my on her for the whole procession, and since making a scene like that and proclaiming my desire for a woman was out of character for me, he took it as a sign that I was "becoming a man" and handed her over to me while laughing his head off."

"Thankfully for me, unlike his father and most of his court, Johan is a decent person." added Larcei

"Oh, so you being his mistress is just the official story then?" asked Serlis somewhat appeased.

Larcei and Johan looked at one another, then indicated for him to follow them. He was startled by what they had to show him.

"This is..."

"Our daughter. She's about five months old." explained Johan.

"Originally, it _was_ all just a pretense, and I was thankful for it. But eventually, it became clear that we wouldn't be able to get away with pretending for much longer. So after about half a year, I came to him with my decision to make the ultimate sacrifice for both our sakes." said Larcei. She said all this while bouncing the baby and adopting a completely neutral tone, which had an... unsettling effect. It made Serlis shift uncomfortably and he noticed how Johan seemed to look away guiltily.

He pondered this for a moment, wondering if Johan had hidden something, but then he remembered Johan's peculiar answer to his unspoken question. He had said "not directly". So that was the issue. Given what Serlis knew of Johan's personality, he could glean what the problem was. Due to Larcei's odd... detachment to the entire situation, it could be said that her consent was dubious at best. Considering Johan was an old school romantic, in his mind, dubious consent probably meant the same thing as...! **Gods above**, what kind of court did Danann run that they were forced into this scenario?!

"I... I had heard rumors about her, but I had thought it was out of character for you, so I had discredited them. So, does that mean the rumors about your brother..."

"Johalva did something similar with my friend Criedne. They have two kids together." responded Larcei.

"They're all considered bastards of course. Father would never legitimize 'a bunch of mongrels'."

"Then... then why the hell would he allow them to exist in the first place?!" demanded Serlis.

Johan shrugged his shoulders "Pride? Hypocrisy? A combination of both? He won't acknowledge it, but he's fathered a bunch of 'mongrels' himself. He's got a rather backward view of women, and I guess his view is if you don't want to deal with a kid you fathered, then its not your problem. He encouraged us to find new girls after our... accidents, but when we refused to abandon them, he declared that we would have to bear all the consequences then. I think he sees it as some way of teaching us a lesson. Also, knowing him, I think a part of him is smug about the fact that even though the Isaac royal bloodline is continuing, it is continuing through **his** bloodline. He probably hopes the Dozel blood will override the Isaacian blood in the future. He's probably letting Johalva get away with it for a similar reason, even though Creidne isn't royalty."

Now Serlis was starting to get visibly freaked out. "You clearly see your father as some sort of monstrous ogre. What exactly are his crimes?" he asked, reluctant to find out the answer. Johan promptly handed him a list. "_Ohhhh_... this is... this is a long list..." he looked at the pair. "Look, I'm not stupid. I know the rumors floating around about my father and I can guess what you want from me. While I can't ignore... _all this_ if even _half_ of it is true, I... I can't act directly against my family. I'll admit, I do need to take some course of action but... please give me time to decide on what." he said, ending their 'official' meeting.

* * *

Sometime later, he got into private conversations with each of them that influenced his decision.

He asked Johan about why he had looked guilty. He admitted to feeling guilty for the very reason that Seliph had suspected, and he also highlighted another source of anxiety he held in his heart. "I love her and I want to help her and her country get a better lot than my father's rule, but... a part of me is afraid of what it may cost."

"Your position?" asked Serlis.

"Her. It may cost me her." responded Johan. Upon seeing Serlis' confused reaction, he explained.

"I don't think that she actually loves me. I'm fairly certain that she's only with me out of pragmatism. And if I put her homeland under a more benevolent rule, if I give her a taste of freedom, then like a long caged wild bird..."

"She'll fly away? You really think that she will? Even with your daughter to think of?"

"A daughter that's a reminder of how she was forced to survive." Johan pointed out. "she very well might. And... I wouldn't blame her. If she leaves me in the case of a more benevolent regent change... it will be one of the most painful things that I'll ever have to endure, but... if it comes down to it... letting her go would be the right thing to do for her, forcing her to stay with me would only damage her worse than she already is. If she wants to leave us... then I'll do what I can for our daughter."

"And if she chooses to take her with her?" asked Serlis. Judging by his reaction, Johan clearly hadn't considered this as a possibility. All he could say in response was a very weak "I...I don't know..."

* * *

When Serlis confronted Larcei herself over all these things, she dropped her previous monotone and gave him a very dark look "you are aware that I know with complete certainty that I've lost my entire family to his, right? I had been denying to myself that my mother was gone for over a decade and a half, until I was given irrefutable proof of both her and my father's deaths at Dannan's hand thrust in my face. I could only watch as my beloved cousin and my _twin brother_ died. I was a warrior. I should have died with them. But Danann's men wouldn't let me, because I was a _girl_." she said, spitting the word out as if it were venom.

I was beaten, _beaten_, had my dominant arm crippled so that I could no longer wield a blade properly, then I was stripped and tied up in a humiliating position, then paraded all the way from Tirnanog to Danann's throne room as a _war trophy_. Do you have _any_ idea what those bastards were about to **DO** to me before Johan came to my rescue, **_your highness?_** You've read Dannan's rap sheet. Take a _wild guess._" Serlis paled.

"A week hadn't even passed before someone had started well drawn _**porn**_ of me. _**PORN!**_ and not even on the black market! I went from proud warrior princess and rebel leader of Issac to **_public sex object_** in the span of a _week._ So _excuuuuseee meeee _if I have some **emotional issues!**" she took a moment to compose herself.

"As for Johan? I know his motives. While I never really liked him, I'll be eternally grateful to him, because he actually _tries_ to treat me like an actual human being and legitimately cares about all of me and not JUST whats in between my legs." she looked wistfully out a window. "You may condemn me for what I did, but let's be real here. There was no way this ended without me spreading my legs for _someone._ It was either jump the guy who would let me keep the shreds of dignity I had left, or let myself get put to public use once Dannan punished his son for not 'being a man'. So I chose the preferable option."

She stared Serlis straight in the face._ "Of course_ I resent the choice I was force to make, but I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that I've actually had some... _fun_ playing mistress. As time has gone on, I've managed to get a degree of my agency back, and all this tiptoeing around Danann... there's a sort of thrill to it that reminds me of my days as an active rebel. Of course, I probably only think this way because it's the only remotely pleasant thing I've experienced in three years."

"Then... do you love him? Would you stay with him if you had your freedom, or would you leave?" asked Serlis.

"I... won't say that I'm in love. As for leaving... I genuinely don't know myself. I want freedom, but all free birds must have a nest somewhere, right? Yet, it may hurt to much to stay..."

"If you left... what would you do about your daughter?" asked Serlis.

She teared up. "I... I would..." she was silent for several moments while she gathered her thoughts, then she said "In the hopeful world we are discussing... her father's world would be better for her. I wouldn't be able to take her with me. She may grow to hate me as much as I loved the mother _I_ never got to meet for her absence, but... if I left... I would not make the best single parent. I am... damaged... far to damaged to play the role of a mother unaided. Her father is better suited for the role, and he's the one more likely to get a stable life." she concluded.

* * *

After THAT **pleasant** conversation, Serlis came to a decision.

"I will... leak this list of Danann's crimes to both the public and my social circles so that letting him maintain power becomes... unpalatable appearance-wise. If this info happens to spark a revolt, then I could perhaps use this to convince my family to... stay out of the conflict and prevent Danann from receiving aid, maybe even sabotage him. That would leave you a grand opportunity to depose him, but you'd have to be VERY careful about HOW you go about it though, or you **will **have even bigger problems on your hands when all is said and done.


End file.
